In the example of a disk cartridge driving apparatus discussed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. HEI 3-173989, there is an opening through which a cassette containing a disk can be inserted. Inside the apparatus, there is a spindle motor rotating the disk in the cartridge, an optical head focusing a laser beam onto the disk for recording and reproducing data, a driving mechanism driving the optical head, and a loading mechanism. The driving mechanism is sealed with the dust protection cover. The dust protection cover can provide an opening to allow the insertion of the cartridge, covered by a door which is opened and closed responding to loading/ejecting the cartridge (or cassette case).
However, the seal is such that the head accessing device inside the disk drive cannot always be protected from dust when a disk cartridge is being loaded. In the process of recording and reproducing data, the disk may be rotated at a high speed which can cause a high speed air stream in the apparatus which in turn can cause dust to enter the apparatus.
When dust enters and reaches optical parts in the head accessing device, there can be mis-reading or mis-writing of data on the disk because the dust reflects or absorb laser beams used in the recording/reproducing of the data.